Idaho - Wyoming - Montana

Made the hour trip out to Oakley to the RV, transferred initial supplies for our almost 6 week trip. Drove West to Lodi where we had the oil changed on the RV. Got fuel and then headed north towards Reno. Did a bit of surface street driving in Truckee to avoid a big accident on 80. In Reno we headed to Whole Foods to get our initial stock of food for the trip. Checked in to Sparks Marina RV, a big park with lots of large rigs. Settled in for the night.

Got the RV washed, then drove east 4 hours across Nevada, almost 300 miles to Iron Horse RV in Elko. Pretty quiet day, just driving.

Got some fuel, drove half an hour further East, then turned north. Drove up through Twin Falls. As we entered an area of highway construction a truck going the other way kicked up a rock which hit our windshield and left a big 1.5" chip in the top center of the windshield. We immediately started googling for someplace to repair it. Found a place back in Twin Falls but we didn't have time to get back there before they closed, and it would mean going through the construction zone two more times. Continued to Picabo Angler RV where we called some more repair places. Found one, Windshield Rescue, that was willing to drive an hour from Idaho Falls and meet us halfway in Arco. We packed up and headed to Arco. Checked in at the KOA where they at least had a boon docking site we could use for the night. Met Windshield Rescue at a gas station nearby. They took only about half an hour and made the chip basically disappear! She even looked at the chip we had repaired on our Utah trip and worked her magic on it, made it just as invisible. We were super pleased with their work and really appreciated their efforts in getting us all fixed! Back at the KOA we were informed that a full hookup site had opened up, score!

Headed north around 8am, arrived at our friends Craig & Doug's ranch in Chalis about an hour and a half later. Threaded "the leviathan" through their gate (backwards) and set up camp facing the river. Gave them big hugs, said hello to Summer ("the barkasaurus") Had lunch on their deck, then went in to town to the grocery store and hardware store. Back at the ranch Rick helped Randy do a repair on the entry step of the RV. Around 4 Craig took Rick and Doug up the river and dropped them off with inner tubes. They floated down and back to the ranch. So nice to be right on the river! Doug made a tasty enchilada dinner for everyone around sunset. Had fun. Chit chatting and then headed to bed.

Rick went for an early morning walk with Doug (and Summer). Drove down the road for cell service to book a rafting trip for Monday morning. Flew the drone up around some cliff edges in search of a hawk's nest that Doug was sure was there. Turned out to be a bush. Oh well! Went into town for fishing licenses and some groceries. Rick did some fishing while Randy flew the drone. Randy floated with Doug late in the afternoon, then Randy made chili for everyone. Craig & Doug joined us in the RV for show and tell of some of our recent pictures, then we all enjoyed some chili. Hung out on their deck until around sunset, then headed to bed.

Went for a morning walk with Doug and Summer, met two women from town that were also out for a walk. Back at the ranch we invited Craig & Doug to The Cactus Cafe for omelettes á la Randy. Had a relaxing day, did some reading. Randy Gave Doug a drone lesson. Doug made pork chops for dinner.

Around 9:30 we headed east towards Stanley for our rafting trip. Directions weren't very specific, completely missed the spot. Called the company from Stanley, got better directions. Ended up being right on time, met our guide Todd. Cute young guy that was on his third summer of guiding rafting. We had our own raft and we set off downstream. Randy flew the drone a bit, Rick and Doug paddled. Second time Randy flew the drone he had trouble seeing the screen through the plastic bag and ended up crashing it into a tree on the shore. Todd scrambled back and was able to find it, though it had a broken propeller arm. Oh well. Continued downstream for another hour, then went ashore for lunch before being transported back to the car. Very fun time! Back at the ranch we relaxed until early afternoon. Had smoked trout and a tasty salad for dinner.